Posted on 01/18/2017 5:19:10 AM PST by expat_panama
I know in Germany they also charge their country’s VAT on all imported stuff. I think it is around 20% and it is added to the import tax. They add around 30% or so to the price of our cars sold in Germany if you include the VAT.
I am taking the gloves off. Tax imports is not evil. Taxing the fruit of ones labor is evil, very evil. That make you evil in away doesn't it?
I am sorry my last post was for 1rudboy and anyone defending the income tax and not supporting tariffs..
Thanks. Let me know if you ever find a post of mine defending the income tax. I’ve been here over a decade.
With marketing, importing, warehousing and retailing not even in the top 10.
Ok if you could would you replace the income tax with various consumption taxes, with tariffs being one of them?
Since the international labor arbitrage that you foolishly advocate has depressed wages to the point that a $14.00 hour job with any benefits at all became a desirable and somewhat scarce thing in wide swathe of the country.
You lie, when you accuse me of higher taxes.
I am always in favor of smaller government, which is the main cause of higher taxes.
But.....
Someone has to pay for the military.
Some one has to pay for the vets.
Someone has to pay for the public infrastructure.
Someone has to pay for the old and infirm and handicapped.
Someone has to pay for police, law and order.
Nothing is free. Taxes are the price we pay for civilization. But we can debate about which taxes are preferable. Income tax, sales tax, wealth tax, transaction tax, property tax, etc. are available options. At the end of day, someone will have to pay the tax in one form or another.
OK, and thanks for the clarification.
Maybe I am wrong. Can you acknowledge that income taxes are evil and tariffs are not? Not all taxation is the same.
I see the clown car has unloaded. Since I can’t get an answer about how much the federal government should raise my taxes to protect someone else’s job, what target-level should the government place on that job’s wages? I think I deserve to know, if only for budgeting purposes. Everyone is looking for a handout, it appears.
Odd how you're always first on the scene for that. I bet you're the first to smell a fart, too, lol.
There is no telling what a good starting point is because the USA has had its ass hanging out so long,bleeding wealth, jobs and technical know how, nobody knows what a proper import duty rate schedule should be anymore. The rates have been stuck a 1% for 30 years. The new Sec. Of Commerce needs to get a grip ASAP.
Not in this current system.
There is no such thing as a “free market”. It is a hypothetical construct, a base from which one can theorize economic ideas.
In reality, countries create a variety of barriers to the advantage of their economy.
We are taking the hits and not hitting back.
I hadn’t thought about that.
Perhaps we should have an import VAT.
billyboy15 value of the dollar... ...bring mfg back home to America.
Everyone says that lowering foreign exchange rates to make dollars cheaper will make it easier for the American public to sell all the American made goods, and they're wrong.
Yeah, I know it seems to make sense that when one foreigner wants to buy something made in US that if he gets more $$ for his funny money then he can buy more US goods that day. Sounds great for that one foreigner on that one day but we need to remember what were talking about is the American public and all goods. The minute the first foreigner buys goods he also buys American bonds, designs, and he puts the change in the bank. All that foreign money that got changed into dollars has to be used overseas and the only way that can be done is by buying foreign stuff.
In real life, exchange rates do not affect trade for the nation --no matter how well off that first foreigner on the first day cleans up. Hey guys, if it would make any difference we can actually look at the hard numbers on record for trade v. exchange rates and y'all can see for yourselves that the dollar's strength has no affect whatsoever on trade.
Let me know if hard numbers would make any difference to your views.
If you pay your neighbor’s kid to mow your lawn, that is a “free market” transaction.
You cannot possibly be attempting to claim that exchange rates have no effect upon trade. That’s just bizarre. Are you talking your own book as an offshore manufacturer? If so, you’re being rather disingenuous.
That wasn’t an answer to my question, either. Boy oh boy do you “conservative” libs get squirrely when folks ask how much your proposals will cost.
This article ignores several factors that greatly impact the valuation of currency one nation vs. another and the effect of exchange rates in any given instance.
1. Safety-The globally recognized “safest” currency in the world is (and has been for decades) the US dollar. This is why oil is denominated in dollars. It is also generally deemed a safe currency due the relative size of our economy versus other world economies together with relative political stability.
2. Interest rates-Given the safety of the US dollar, the main ingredient in determining exchange rates between the dollar and other currencies around the world is interest rate levels. In the case of the dollar, increases in rates tend to strengthen its value. It’s simply supply and demand. If rates of return increase for a given currency (all other factors being equal) money tends to move into that currency given the safety/stability mentioned above. The demand for the currency with a higher return is increased and at the same time demand for other currencies is likewise lessened through the conversion necessary to have the correct denomination. For example, pesos to dollars.
Over the past year this is precisely what has caused the dollar to strengthen (beside upheaval from Brexit and EU.) The Fed is the primary reason for this. Not only has the Fed raised the benchmark rate twice in the last year, it has continually expressed an inclination to continue on this path. This is part of the reason the stock market pauses ahead the regular Fed meetings except for banks and financial stocks which have experienced significant increases in value.
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